Facing Reality
by majorfangirl
Summary: AU She lived her life in a fantasy world. Can one boy teach her that, while fantasies are fun, nothing can beat reality? Naruto/Mint, Kiba/Lettuce, Chouji/Pudding, Shikamaru/Zakuro, Shino/Ichigo. Oneshot


**A/N: A long time ago, I decided I wanted to write a really long oneshot! I finally finished! Woop woop!**

The world was shining bright and everything seemed to be smiling. At least, that was how Mint Aizawa saw it. It was actually cloudy and cold, but she lived in her own little world.

She was absolutely rich and attended Konoha's Academy for Girls. It was a very expensive private school and she attended it with her closest friends. There was also Konoha's Academy for Boys, but she knew no one who went there.

By now she was a senior in high school and had used living life in a fantasy world as way to escape from any pain she would normally have felt. Rich she may have been, but she got that way from her parents working all the time. Her brother was constantly studying and she had only had Nana to spend time with her.

During that time, junior high, she was a total snob. But when Nana died, the fantasy world became. She still had some of her snobbish ways, but she was mainly changing the world to fit however she wanted it to be. In her world, she was never alone at home.

Mint was really turning out pretty. She had brown eyes and navy hair that she usually kept in buns. She was slightly short for her age, but not so short compared to one of her friends. All in all, she was what you would call a good looking girl.

Her friends were always there for her and tried to listen to her problems, though she would hardly ever speak about them.

First, their was Ichigo Momoiya. She was a red head that usually tied her hair in pigtails. She also had brown eyes. Her parents paid her KAFG tuition.

Then, there was Lettuce Midorikawa. She was a shy girl with long green hair usually in braids and blue eyes. Her parents could afford tuition, but she was so smart, she was there on scholarship.

Pudding Fong was very short for her age. Usually looking on the positive side and with short blonde hair and brown eyes. She was an orphan who had her tuition paid for by the government.

Zakuro Fujiwara was tall and beautiful and Mint saw her as the most worthy friend. She had long purple hair and blue eyes. Her tuition was paid for by her parents, but she didn't have the best relationship with them. No one knew any of the real details.

Mint walked out into the cold without a jacket, because to her, the weather was perfectly warm and she was content. KAFG and KAFB were on the same exact schedule and learning the same things and she heard someone talking about an upcoming test.

He had messy brown hair and said, "Man, I swear I'm gonna fail this test!"

"You think _you're_ gonna fail?" asked a boy with spiky blonde hair. "Think about the people who actually _have_ failed!"

Mint decided to ignore them as she walked past until the blonde shouted, "Hey you! Don't you go to the girl school?"

She turned around and said sarcastically, "_No._ I'm a _boy_. Of _course_ I go there!"

"Shut up!" the boy shouted. "Don't you guys have the same test today that we do?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Can you…can you help me and Kiba study?"

"We don't have much time before class," Mint said. "I don't know if I should, anyway."

"Our schools are right next to each other! Please, help us!" The blonde boy looked pained to be coming right out and asking for help, but he seemed to have no other options. Mint felt a strange surge of pity and decided to help him out.

"Fine," she said and they walked to school together. The brunette-Kiba was what the blonde said his name was- sat on one side and the blonde on the other outside of the boy's academy. Mint patiently quizzed them on different facts until it was time to go.

"Wait!" the blonde called when she was running to get to school. "What's your name?"

"I'm Mint Aizawa. And you?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki!" He, Naruto, waved at her as she ran to school and she felt an odd happiness that she had never felt before. Somehow, she knew she wouldn't forget Naruto.

~X~

"Mint's smiling!" Pudding shouted happily.

"What's got you so happy?" Ichigo asked, looking her friend up and down.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Mint said, but her friends weren't buying it. She was usually so out of it, but today she seemed perfectly happy and none of them knew why.

"It's nothing, nothing at all, girls," Mint said and didn't tell them about how it had made her feel really good to help people. She had never been one to sacrifice her happiness to helping someone else, but now she knew how good it could make one feel.

She shook her head. What was she _thinking_? But, for the first time in a long time, she wasn't making the school day her own little world. And then the announcement came.

"Yes, I'd like to make an announcement," their principal said. "Due to a budget cut, we are combining our academy with the boy's school!"

There were cheers, groans, and gasps to follow this and Mint didn't really connect Naruto or Kiba with their school. Instead, she was in full-on daydream mode.

Today, she owned the school, she called the shots, _nothing_ went wrong, and her parents were so proud of her. And then a voice, a familiar voice, said, "Good job, Mint! I knew someone like you could do it!"

And then a shadowy figured moved towards her and scooped her into his arms. Holding her down, he whispered, "I would love you even if you didn't." As he kissed her, the shadows faded and it was….

_Naruto?!?!?!??!??!_

She snapped out of her fantasy and wondered why she had been thinking of that. She could see herself dreaming something like that when she was asleep, but fully awake and aware? She had no idea _what_ had possessed her to think of him in such a way.

There was no way she had a crush on him. He just wasn't her type or deserving of her. Not to mention his stupidity.

She decided to pretend that had never happened and to move on with her life. She went through all of her classes without showing a care in the world, but the happiness from earlier was gone. How was she ever going to be able to see Naruto again? Now he would only be a memory that got booted out because she lived life _her_ way.

When walking home, she could have sworn she heard someone calling her name, but she tried her best to ignore it. Which was when she ran into somebody.

Upon impact, she could tell her was taller than her. When she looked him up and down, she saw he had reddish-brown hair and was rather large. (I refuse to say the "F" word here!) He was carrying a half-empty bag of potato chips.

"I'm sorry," said Mint. "I should have been watching where I was going."

"It's alright," he said. "My name's Chouji Akimichi."

"I'm Mint Aizawa," she replied, smiling slightly. He was cute, not in the way people used to describe boys they like, but in the adorable sort of way. Mint also thought he seemed like a kind person.

_Great, another one of _those, she thought. _Better get away while I can._

To her dismay, he immediately tried to start conversation. "I guess you go to that girl's school. Can you believe our school's are merging?"

All Mint couldn't believe was how he thought he was worthy of speaking to her! But she said, "I know. Weird isn't it?"

"Yeah, I never thought they w-"

"Come on, Chouji. If I'm late again, mom'll have a cow," said a boy with black hair and a sleepy look on his face coming up behind Chouji.

"Alright, Shikamaru," said Chouji. "I'll see you some other time, Mint!" And he finally, _finally_, walked away.

Mint walked the rest of the way to her large mansion, one that most people called "the castle of Konoha" but she called it home. Her dozens of maids greeted her, but she paid them no mind. They never talked to her, never did anything but what she said, and that was what made her truly alone when she sat in her house.

She walked into her large room and sat down at her desk. It was time to do her homework. She needed something to get her mind off of the many experiences with boys she had had in one day alone.

And that was when she remembered. _She would soon be attending school with that same boy from earlier!_ Chouji, was it? She was pretty sure that was his name. And Shikamaru was his friend she assumed.

Growing up in the separate schools made her not used to boys at all. Even the slightest encounter was weird for her and she always wanted out. Not that she was shy or anything. It was only the fact that she felt that they were way too different. Going to separate schools could do that to someone.

She heard a bird chirp outside and couldn't help but smile. She had always loved the birds for a reason she couldn't explain.

By now, Naruto was completely forgotten and there was no chance of him ever being remembered unless she were to meet him again. And she still didn't connect him with the boy's school.

~X~

Bright and early the next morning, Naruto Uzumaki was getting ready to go to school. Once he got there, they would all move to the school next door for good and there was only one person he could think of: Mint.

He would get to see his new friend again and a lot. Maybe she would be a really close friend, one of his best. She wasn't like the other girls. Most girls at that school would go all giggly to be talking to a boy, whether they liked him that way or not. But Mint was reluctant to even help he and Kiba study.

Naruto didn't want to be her boyfriend, but he definitely wanted to be her friend.

~X~

Mint took a seat in between Zakuro and Lettuce in the auditorium. Soon, they would be welcoming those boys, and the entire school was a wreck. Girls were going out of there way to look good because now they would be interacting with _actual boys_.

She glanced over at Ichigo, who was dressed a lot better than usual. She was obviously looking forward to meeting the boys and hopefully making one of them hers.

Mint shook her head. There was nothing special about any of them. She always wondered why girls got so worked up over those stupid boys.

That was when the doors opened and the boys came in. And the one to shout her name and shove a flustered Lettuce into the next seat was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

"Hey, I tried to get your attention after school yesterday," he said. "Me and Kiba never thanked you for helping us study yesterday! We both passed!"

Seeming to materialize out of nowhere, Kiba leaned in and said, "Yeah, thanks, Mint!" Again, Lettuce was shoved off to the side to make room for Kiba who sat beside Naruto.

"Oh?" asked Ichigo. "You never told us you knew these boys."

"Or about helping them study yesterday!" Pudding added.

Naruto and Kiba both started telling her friends about how "nice" she was and her friends laughed and talked about how selfish she was. Both sides were talking about her, and Mint finally had to whack Naruto and try to reach over to Pudding.

When Naruto shouted, "Ow!" Ichigo, Kiba, and Pudding all shut up.

"What'd you do that for, Mint?" he asked, but she didn't answer. She was in a fantasy world again where there had been a mistake and the boys had to leave, but not after Naruto and Kiba got taken to an asylum.

Without replying to any questions, Mint got up and walked right out, leaving a very confused Naruto and Kiba behind.

"Mint!" Ichigo shouted. "Where are you going?" But she knew full and well that Mint was going to go sit somewhere in the elementary's playground.

"Did you say Mint?" asked somebody.

"Yeah, I did," Ichigo said. "Why?""Well, my name's Chouji and I met Mint yesterday," he said.

The girls introduced themselves and Naruto said, "You know Mint too, Chouji?"

"Yup," Chouji replied. "So, you girls are her friends?" he asked, looking at each of them. His eyes lingered on Pudding, but most eyes did spend a good amount of time on the girl who looked like a freshman. But everyone else's eyes usually spent the most time on Zakuro.

"I talked to her last night," Chouji continued.

"Yeah, and I got chewed out for having to wait for you," said a voice. "My name's Shikamaru, by the way."

"Shikamaru's not too happy about the schools merging," Chouji said.

"Well, why should I be?" Shikamaru asked. "Girls are so troublesome."

"You keep saying that, but some day you're gonna meet the greatest girl ever, and then you'll do anything to get her to fall for you," Naruto said. "Don't say it won't happen. It always does!"

"I doubt it'll be with anyone here. These girls are practically _throwing_ themselves at the boys," Shikamaru replied.

"I'm not," Zakuro said, and then all the boys realized it was the first time they had heard her speak. "I couldn't really care less. I'd rather be alone than with them."

"I just don't get you, Zakuro," Ichigo said. "We're almost out of school! Why can't we all just date and be happy?"

"I think I would date if…someone really cared for me…but that's probably not going to happen," Lettuce said.

"Lettuce is the nicest person ever!" shouted Pudding. "You'll find love sooner than _anyone_!"

And that was when Kiba turned to actually notice the girl who had been sitting beside him all this time. And, well, he immediately took one look at her and realized she was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. She wasn't going out of her way to look differently, and he could tell that, without her glasses and if she let her hair down, she would look just like any other girl that people tended to go for.

He knew immediately that he was starting to fall for Lettuce Midorikawa. He at first thought it would be Mint that he was going to be in a relationship with, but that was only because she had been the first female to actually talk to him and his friend without making fun of them in a long time.

But he knew Lettuce wouldn't be the type to make fun of _anyone_ and he really liked that in a girl. Or, now he did. All he wanted was Lettuce now, and he realized that any other girl just wouldn't do.

"What's Kiba staring at?" Pudding wondered aloud, and Kiba realized he had kept his eyes locked on Lettuce for a while now. He immediately looked away, muttering, "Nothing."

~X~

Mint sat silently on the edge of the sand box. She would never sit _in_ it; she still had to keep her clothes looking nice, after all. They had been talking about her as if she weren't there. Words floated through her memory.

_Mint is one of the most selfish people out there!_

_Really? Because she was really nice and helpful yesterday!_

_Ha! That's a good one!_

Was she really that bad of a person? She had never _thought_ of herself as bad, but her own best friends did. And what about Naruto showing up in her life again? After her weird day dream, she didn't know what to think of the spiky haired blonde with blue eyes.

There was no way that she was going to fall for him, though. No way.

~X~

There came a time when the assembly ended, and the boys were going to get acquainted with the school, but still no sign of Mint. Ichigo figured they must have really upset her. She seemed to get more fragile by the day.

"We can show you guys around," Ichigo offered, not worrying about Mint by now. She would bounce back soon enough.

As the boys nodded, a voice came from behind Ichigo. "There you are, Kiba, Naruto."

Ichigo jumped and whirled around to face someone she hadn't even known had been there. He had black hair, an emotionless expression, and sunglasses so dark that she couldn't see past them.

"Oh, hey, Shino," Kiba said.

"Do these two belong to you?" asked Ichigo. When Shino nodded, she smiled and said, "Than we'll show you around too!" Without waiting for an okay, she drug him along.

There was something about this Ichigo and Shino began to feel weird about her already. A way he had never felt around anyone before. Shino Aburame was totally confused about this red head and why she was making him feel in such a way.

After showing everyone around, the group broke apart to go to their classes. Chouji seriously wanted a few classes with Pudding to get to know her better, but there was only lunch which would be the one time he would be too focused on something else.

He had to be honest with himself. He thought Pudding was cute and he already liked her. If he could only get her to like him too.

~X~

Mint showed up in her first class, where Kiba also was. He didn't say anything to her and she was grateful that he respected her space. She could hear him talking to another boy that he called Shino. She assumed they knew each other.

"Come _on_, Shino, you're in love with her!"

"Kiba. Why would I be in love with her?" He didn't ask this defensively, but calmly, as if he were a teacher asking the class a question.

"You're in love with Ichigo! Face it!"

Mint listened closer now that her friend was involved.

"I just met her an hour ago. If I'm in love with Ichigo, you're in love with someone you don't know."

"Actually," Kiba said nervously, "I kind of like Lettuce…"

A sadistic grin now graced Mint's features. So these two boys liked her friends. Now was her chance to prove she wasn't selfish! She could set them up and then everyone would see how nice she really was.

But how to start? Hm…she could always _tell_ Ichigo and Lettuce, but how would that help? She was going to have a lot of thinking to do if she was going to pull this setting up off.

~X~

Soon, she was faced with more setting up, when she realized how much Chouji seemed to be interested in Pudding, making her realize that her friends were all a lot better than her.

They all had someone interested in them after only just meeting them, yet no one seemed to care at all about her. Which sent her straight back into fantasy mode.

All of the boys were all fawning over her, clambering to get her attention, all of them wanting her to choose them, but she walked straight past them to someone else.

"Don't worry, I'm still going to pick you out of all of them," she said, and, for the second time in a fantasy, pressed her lips against Naruto's.

She tried to snap out of it, tried to forget about all of this, tried to not think those thoughts about him, but by this point, that was impossible because she was in love with Naruto.

It wasn't like she had planned on it or even knew him that well, she just immediately knew that she would never be able to get him out of her head and that she loved him. Still, the fantasy worlds were nothing like harsh reality; he probably hated her now.

So, for the entire afternoon, she was content with fantasizing about a relationship between her and Naruto, completely forgetting all about reality, once again. She ignored everything she was taught at school, too caught up with the blonde to think of anything else.

That night, as she was walking home, an arm reached out an grabbed her. Of all people, it was Naruto!

"Mint, we really need to talk," he said. "I felt like, after yesterday, I really knew you. I liked you, but I said it was only as a friend because I thought Kiba might like you, but he asked out Lettuce so I guess it alright. Still, I _don't_ know you, not at all. I want to know who you are and what your deal is."

"Naruto, it's just…there's a lot in my life going on. Neglecting parents, the only one close to me dead, I'm a typical snob, you leave me so confused, I don't know what to do. And…I live my life in a fantasy world!"

That was the first time she had ever admitted that to anyone. No one, not even her friends knew that.

"Um…care to explain? I wanna be a good friend and all, but I'm totally confused right now."

"I guess I should start at the beginning," she said. "My family is rich. Did the name Aizawa ring any bells? We live in the mansion. But they didn't get rich by spending time with my brother and I, oh no. My brother goes to expensive schools and I never see him. The only person who really took care of me was Nana, but she died. That was when my fantasies started.

"I was so lonely and my world was so different than I wanted it to be, that I just started imagining things differently. I act like I'm fine, but I'm not, I want them to be there for me. My friends never offer to come over, never try to spend any time with me."

"Why don't you ask them?"

"What?"

"Why don't you ask them to come over? Did it ever occur to you that maybe they were just waiting for an invitation?" Naruto asked.

"I…never really thought of it that way," she admitted. "Still, without my parents around, I'm always so lonely…"

"Well, at least you still have them."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm an orphan. I'm here only because one of the teachers like me and pays my tuition. I had such a hard time making friends, but I have them now and I'm alright," he said with a smile. "I never knew them, but I'm sure they were great people."

Mint felt her heart go out to him. "Lately," she said, "my fantasies have been different. I've been…seeing you in them."

"Yeah? What's the big deal about that?" Naruto asked.

"Well, it wouldn't be a big deal except you and I are always…together. As in, a couple. And the worst of it is…"

"What?"

"I love you."

"Gee, Mint, I…I don't think I _love_ you…but I like you a lot. I can be there for you, do you want to give it a shot?" the blonde asked.

"I'd love to," she replied.

"Also, you're going to need to learn to face reality," Naruto said. "Nothing's perfect, but a fantasy world isn't normal. Besides, no matter how bad it gets, nothing can beat reality!"

~X~

The next day at school, Naruto's arm around Mint's waist told her friends all they needed to know, even though, unlike Lettuce, she hadn't told them of the new relationship.

Shikamaru and Zakuro hadn't said anything, but everyone knew they were a couple already, even if it was like nothing had happened between them. Life seemed to be good for everyone.

That day at lunch, it only seemed to get better when Chouji said, "Pudding, you're really nice and I really like you so maybe sometime we could…?"

"That's good," she replied, "because I like you too! I'd love to!"

~X~

Everyday, the friends were living life and enjoying it, and Mint's fantasies became less and less, until there were only a few, and they all revolved around Ichigo telling Shino how she felt. And one day, that wish came true! (Too bad she never got to set anyone up)

Naruto was right; fantasies were fun, but NOTHING could beat reality!

**A/N: HUZZAH! Fluffy ending, everyone was happy, blah blah blah, lemme know if it was good for a cross over.**


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